Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to inaugurate the Bidar-Kalaburgi railway line in April 2017, MP Bhagwant Khuba, said on Thursday.
The line that has been pending from 1999, will be completed by April. Officials have confirmed that works are nearing completion and the pending works are on schedule, he told presspersons after inspecting works along the railway from Khanapur to Maragutti.
Mr Khuba said efforts of leaders like former Chief Minister B. S Yeddyurappa released half the cost of the project as the state’s share. Union railway minister of state Basanagouda Patil Yatnal also ensured it was taken up on priority, he claimed.
T.P. Narayan Rao, chief engineer of the south central railway, said the project with an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore was almost complete. All works will be completed by December, trial runs will be done in January. The line could be completely operational by April, the officer said.
Laying of 104 km of the 110.4 km was over. The 1.67 kilometre long tunnel work in Maragutti in Kalaburgi district is in progress with tunneling of 1.47 km completed. Work on around 200 m will be completed soon, he said.
The line has 14 major bridges, 183 minor bridges, 13 over-bridges and 53 underbridges along the way. There are 13 stations along the route. Tunnel workers are being supplied with all safety equipment including oxygen supply pipelines, officers informed.
